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musashi · 5 years

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hey!! i love what i’ve read of your pokeani fics and i want to read your fixit fic but,, i don’t know what was wrong in the episode!! enlighten me, i haven’t seen it :)

for the purpose of this ask i will be using japanese names. i will explain why later. my fixit fic is also using the japanese names/characterizations.

so musashi and kojiro (jessie and james) got a league battle. for the longtime pokeani fans, i don’t have to explain why this is a big deal, but just in case anyone following me doesn’t know the weight of that: they’re two-bit nonthreatening villains that exist almost solely for 1. comic relief 2. plot shenanigans when we need the protag to get into some wacky hijinks and 3. to give adults watching the show someone to relate to. there have been, in total, seven pokemon league championships. in all of these, team rocket mostly sit in the stands selling hot dogs and cheering on the protagonist cause he’s like their weird son.

team rocket rarely win battles. when they do, it’s usually only because they’re fighting as heroes. the SM anime took some big leaps–it let them win more, gave them food and shelter and a parental figure, and threw a z-ring in their hands to share communally. when the alola league was announced, with it was announced that you didn’t need to complete the island challenge to enter. kukui purposefully wanted to make the first alola league accessible to everyone, so everyone within a ten mile radius entered, and that included team rocket.

for musashi, this was for the fame and glory. for kojiro, this was because the prize was a battle against his favourite pro wrestler. and both of them kinda swept those desires under the rug, under the guise of ‘we’ll win the league for the glory of team rocket! nyaaaahahaheyyy~!’

the prelims were an outright battle royale and they managed to survive it, only to be pit against each other in round ONE. sm131 features their battle, and this is where i get angry.

i’m going to address my genuine concerns first, and my petty nerd concerns after. please only take the genuine ones seriously. the petty nerd concerns are just things i have no right to be mad about.

GENUINE CONCERNS:

musashi and kojiro were out of character.

i’m SURE there are people who will argue this, but i feel like they were written by folks who understand them only on the most basic level. basically, what happened was, as soon as the two of them heard they’d be battling each other, musashi shut down the conversation entirely. she told kojiro he would be throwing the match in her favour and that was final. kojiro spent the whole episode depressed, lethargic, and too hopeless to even muster the fire to really say much of anything. she literally beat him into the ground and right up until the end, he just took it.

the narrative punishes musashi for this, which is good. she loses the battle when hidoide (/mareanie) manages to inspire kojiro to fight–if not for himself, then for his pokemon, who he loves. but the fact of the matter is that musashi still made kojiro feel that way. whether or not she suffered for it doesn’t take away that she did it.

while musashi is… i mean, in her own (dub) words, mean and nasty and evil, the way she acts in this episode seems cruel even for her. there’s an insecurity in demanding kojiro throw the match–isn’t it much more logical for musashi to believe she’s indestructible? for her confidence to be her failing? while she is definitely not beyond outright denouncing kojiro’s feelings for her own personal benefit, she also loves and respects him. sometimes she gets an idea in her head and gets carried away, but there is just something about how far she takes it in this episode that really bothers me.

kojiro’s reaction to it, i think, is what hurts the most. he really loves royal mask, it’s a plot thread we follow over the course of the series. he’s the mc at several events, owns signed merch, and is frequently seen blushing & crying over the dude. we’re a lot more invested in kojiro’s feelings on this matter than we are on musashi’s. we know how much it means to him, and we have to watch her shatter it and him just… blindly accept that. people view kojiro as a doormat but just as often as he’s a doormat, he’s also prone to pretty explosive anger at times. him just… accepting musashi steamrolling his dreams seems just as ooc as her thinking to do that.

he just deflates. it’s hard to watch. and then she yells at him for that, too. like he’s disrespecting her with his absolutely justified reaction to the shitty thing she’s done to him, someone she supposedly considers a dear friend.

the episode just really plays kick the dog with kojiro from that point on, too

of all my complaints, this is the biggest one. im happy the narrative punishes musashi for all of this by making her lose, and she does apologize in her own way in the next episode (by buying him a coffee and cheering him up after his loss–gifts are how musashi says i love you and thank you and i’m sorry when she’s often too proud to say it outright.) and i think my frustration is just that i feel… cheated.

beyond that, the battle itself makes little sense. its hidoide vs. sonansu (/wobbuffet). unless you make use of a strategy, you don’t outlast a sonansu. raw power does not hold against something that will always hit you twice as hard as you hit it. i realized on a rewatch that they kinda have hidoide dodge the counters, but it’s so subtle and uninspired. she’s a poison type, poison is one of the best ways to get rid of a sonansu on the field–toxic stall it!!!! make use of your speed! use some anime bullshit and use moves in unconventional ways! but nah, none of that. hidoide is just stronger because of The Power Of Love.

PETTY CONCERNS:

musashi and kojiro are named for musashi miyamoto and kojiro sasaki, two historical japanese swordsmen who are best known for their duel against one another on the kanmon straits near moji and shimonoseki. ganryu island, where they had this duel, is named after sasaki kojiro and the style he fought in. there are statues of them erected there, locked in that battle forever.

this battle is legendary and many details of it, whether historically accurate or not, have been passed down orally until they became legend. the most commonly cited detail speaks of how musashi showed up to the duel late (a tactic he used often and cited in his book, the book of five rings, as a psychological tactic to unnerve the enemy) with a wooden, oversized bokken sword that he had whittled out of one of the fucking paddles he used to get his goddamn boat there. kojiro was like “what the fuck, is this a joke” because a motherfucker was coming at him with a wooden sword. musashi then proceeded to blind kojiro’s ass with the sun as it set behind him and killed the motherfucker. with his wooden sword.

to this day historians are debating if musashi miyamoto’s true intent in showing up that late was to ensure the sun was setting behind him. you know why cowboys have duels at high noon? probably because of musashi’s shifty ass.

pokeani hasn’t forgotten the origin of these characters and their names, because as recent as a year or so ago, musashi had a battle with satoshi that ended like this:

anyways i waited TWENTY FUCKING YEARS for musashi and kojiro pokeani to have a legit fucking battle (they have never battled with stakes before. every battle they’ve had has been over, like, the last snack in the pantry or who’s getting credit w/ sakaki (/giovanni) for the pikachu-napping plan that week) so i could see how the fuck the pokeani writers would reference THEIR GODDAMN NAMESAKES and do you want to know what the answer was???????????

they didn’t.

nothing. zilch. nada. just a regular ass battle with no cool historical nerd shit within. not even a cute little wink and nod.

whats that word i used earlier? ah, yes. “cheated.”

to rub salt in the wound, the episode is called “Musashi v. Kojiro – The Battlefield of Truth and Love” they are literally the focus of the title of the episode.

their battle lasts three minutes.

im running out of steam for how angry this episode made me but suffice to say this fixit fic is. 5k and growing by the minute.

#wendy rambles #sm #sm131 #chepsi #wendy answers #wendy rants

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ladyknight1512 · 6 years

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I’ve seen this 5SOS ask meme floating around a few times and I don’t do ask memes but I do love me a questionnaire so I decided to just fill it out, not that anyone else will care.

1. When did you first find out about 5sos?

The first time I remember hearing one of their songs was in 2016, but they didn’t properly come onto my radar until early 2018. I know, I know. I was super late to the party.

2. How did you find out about them?

In February/March of 2018 they were guests on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which I listened to because I liked the host, even though I live on literally the other side of the world. I wasn’t familiar with the band at that point, beyond Want You Back, which had been on the radio pretty much every single day, and which I actually really liked. But hearing their interview made me want to look them up and find out more about them. And now I’m here, 8 months later, filling out a 50-question ask meme because apparently I have nothing better to do with my time.

3. What was the first song you heard by them?

She Looks So Perfect, in 2016.

4. Have you ever seen them live?

Yes, in Melbourne for the Meet You There tour. They were great and I would definitely see them again.

5. Have you ever met any of them?

Nope.

6. Who was your fave when you first started to like them? Are they still your fave now?

Ashton has been my fave from the beginning, and he still is now, but I like them all for their own reasons.

7. What is your favorite 5sos song?

Ghost of You.

8. What are your favorite lyrics?

I’ve got a jet black heart and there’s a hurricane underneath it – Jet Black Heart

9. What is your favorite music video?

I don’t really watch the videos much but I think Valentine is the most creative and visually interesting.

10. What is your favorite cover?

As in, song they’ve covered? No Roots, which they did in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. I made it my ringtone I love it so much. Their cover of Stay for Spotify is fantastic too, though.

11. What is your favorite album/EP?

Youngblood.

12. What is your favorite bromance?

Probably Cashton.

13. What is your favorite livestream/twitcam/keek/interview /etc?

The Zach Sang interview they did in early 2018 is probably the one I’ve watched the most. It’s actually what turned my vague interest into proper obsession.

14. What is your favorite hair color on Michael?

Most of the colours were before my time but I am partial to his galaxy hair.

15. What is your favorite thing each of them has tweeted?

I don’t have fave tweets, but Ashton’s twitter in general is just a place of positivity and love, and I appreciate that.

16. How many of their albums/EPs do you own?

I own all three albums and various songs from the EPs, but none of the EPs in full.

17. Do you have any 5sos merch?

OMG, yes. Too much, considering I’ve only been a fan for 8 months. I think I’ve got 5 t-shirts, plus one more coming, a long-sleeve, a hoodie, the signed Youngblood litho (which I framed), three other posters (one signed – also framed) and the book. Yes, I bought the book, even though it precedes my time in the fandom by about 4 years. There might be other bits and pieces that I’ve forgotten about, but you get the gist.

18. Do you have any 5sos posters on your walls?

Yes, four. See above.

19. When they come on in the car/store/etc, what do you do?

I’ve never heard them in stores, but when they come on the radio I always cheer and get stupidly excited.

20. Who in the band do you think you’re most like and why?

Probably Michael. He likes cats, he’s a gamer, he seems more introverted than the others – all things that I definitely relate to.

21. Who do you think you’d get along with the most? What about the least?

I think Michael is either the one I’d get along with the best or the least. We’d either be too similar in a good way or a bad way.

22. If you could ask them each one question right now, what would you ask?

I’d like to ask Luke if he thinks he was too young when he got into all this. Personally I think he was, and I think we’ve seen the consequences of that, but I’d like to hear his thoughts on it.

I’d probably ask Ashton what his favourite cocktail is.

I’d probably ask Michael something gaming related.

I’m not sure what I’d ask Calum. He’s always been the one I relate to the least, so he’s a bit of an enigma to me.

23. What was you first impression of each of them?

I thought they were all generally pretty funny, but I actually thought at first that Ashton and Michael didn’t like each other. I think I just got a string of interviews and appearances where Ashton was particularly talkative and Michael was particularly quiet, and there seemed to be a lack of eye contact between them. I’ve since watched all these interviews again and I definitely see them differently and I pick up on more of the subtext now, but I was kind of confused initially.

24. How do you feel about the blonde in Calum’s hair?

Again, before my time, but I’m pretty indifferent.

25. How do you feel about the length of Ashton’s hair?

I prefer it short and I love the curls, but whatever he’s happy with is fine with me.

26. If you were trapped on a deserted island and could only bring one member with you, who would it be and why?

Probably Ashton. He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders, so he could potentially do something about getting us off the island, but he also likes to have a good time, so I think he could make our time there enjoyable, even as I was growing more and more dehydrated and sunburnt.

27. If you could switch everyone’s instruments, who would play what?

I love Ashton on guitar. It just does something to me. Also, that video of him on guitar when they did Teenage Dream? That was so cute? He was bouncing all over the stage, having the time of his life.

As for the others: Luke on bass, Michael on drums and I guess that leaves Calum with the other guitar.

28. Which Don’t Stop superhero would you prefer to be rescued by and why?

They all look pretty horrendous, but I think I’d laugh the least if I was in a bind and Mike-Ro-Wave showed up.

29. What is one song you really want the band to do a cover of?

I’d love them to do a country song with Ash on vocals, but that’s the most I’ve thought about it.

30. If you had 48 hours with your fave what would you guys do?

Oh god, I don’t know. It would definitely involve Ash and an acoustic guitar. I think I’d really just like him to take me to all his favourite places in LA and hang out with him and listen to him talk. I reckon 48 hours with Ashton would be the most fun and exhausting and exhilarating 48 hours of my life, but I’d be up for it.

31. If your fave were to propose to you right now, would you say yes? How would you want him to do it?

Well, it would depend on if this proposal were just out of the blue or if we’d been in some kind of serious relationship first. If the latter, then yes, probably. As for how: I feel like Ashton is the kind of person who would either go really big, super over the top with a proposal, or be really, really low key and just kind of ask at home while you’re doing something really normal and boring. Either would be fine with me.

32. If you could rename the band, what would you name them?

Luke and the Penguins? That’s literally the first thing I thought of. I’ve never thought about this before in my life. Seriously, though, I like that they seem to have embraced ‘5SOS’ as an identity, rather than just an abbreviation. ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ feels very much of its time and feels out of place in the current music world. ‘5SOS’ feels more true to who they are now.

33. What is your favorite thing about each of them?

I love the tongue thing Luke does. You know what I’m talking about.

I love Ashton’s sense of humour and his passion.

I love how Calum thinks Ashton is the funniest person alive.

I love how excited Michael gets about really nerdy things.

34. If you could change one thing about each of them what would you change?

I’d change Calum’s smoking habit, because it’s unhealthy and I worry for him, but other than that I wouldn’t change anything. They are who they are because of the choices they’ve made, good and bad.

35. What 5 words would you use to describe each of them?

Ashton: funny, passionate, driven, focused, storyteller

Luke: rockstar, vulnerable, electric, dorky, angel

Michael: adorable, quiet, genuine, caring, sweet

Calum: underrated (musically), solid, reliable, thoughtful, dedicated

36. If you could be the lead role in any 5sos music video, existing or not, what song would it be for?

Maybe Talk Fast?

37. If you could steal one thing from each of them (clothes, hats, etc) what would you take?

Ashton’s leather jacket, Luke’s black boots, Calum’s green hoodie and Michael’s necklace (that really long one he always wears).

38. If you were sharing headphones with your fave what song would you put on first?

Worry ‘Bout Nothin’ by Keith Urban.

39. Would you rather meet 4/4 but never get to see them live or see them live but never get to meet any of them?

See them live but never meet them. I’ve only been to one of their shows, but it was amazing and so fun. Plus, if I met them they’d forget about me pretty quickly because they meet fans all the time. If I can’t be special enough to remember, I’d rather have the full experience of a show than a quick hug and photo.

40. Would you rather catch Luke’s guitar pick or Ashton’s drum stick?

I’m an Ashton girl so definitely the drum stick.

41. Would you rather never be able to sing one of their songs again or never watch any of their music videos again?

Never watch their music videos. I don’t watch them much anyway, and half the fun of loving a band is getting to sing along. Honestly, one of the moments I’ve ever felt most alive was singing along to Jet Black Heart with thousands of other people at the MYT show.

42. Would you rather be brought on stage for an entire song or meet only 2 of them in public?

Probably meet 2 of them in public? I think I’d feel super awkward being on stage for an entire song. Everyone would be staring! I wouldn’t know what to do with my hands! Plus Ash would be behind the drums on stage and, therefore, unreachable. At least in public I’ve got a chance for a hug.

43. Would you rather play video games with Michael or go on a road trip with Ashton?

That’s super hard, because I’m a gamer but Ash is my fave. Hmmm… Probably road trip with Ashton, because that’s not something I would normally do anyway, and there would be plenty of time for talking and rocking out to whatever playlist he loads up.

44. Would you rather have Calum give you a tattoo or Luke give you a haircut?

I have more faith in Calum’s tattooing skills than Luke’s haircutting skills, so let’s go with the tattoo.

45. Would you rather date your fave but have the others dislike you or be friends with all of them but not be able to date/hookup with/kiss any of them?

Be friends with all of them. Definitely. I’m not sure dating them would be much fun anyway, in reality. They’d always be gone or going away. And they just seem like the kind of people you would want to be friends with.

46. Would you rather sing a duet with Luke or write a song with Calum?

Sing with Luke. More fun. Plus I’m already getting that tattoo from Calum.

47. Would you rather go to the fair with Malum or go stargazing with Lashton?

Stargazing with Lashton.

48. Would you rather touch Calum’s butt or Ashton’s biceps?

Ashton’s biceps. I am a girl who loves a nice set of arms, and Ashton’s are very nice.

49. Would you rather get high with Michael or drunk with Calum?

Drunk with Calum, but only because I’m not into taking drugs.

50. Would you rather have Luke give you his 'You Complete Mess' shirt or have Michael give you his denim jacket?

Michael’s denim jacket.

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #ladyknight1512 gets personal #long post

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coldtomyflash · 6 years

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So I've been following your tumblr for a while now, and I've seen everything you've had to say about the crossover. I should preface this by saying that I am white with no Jewish ancestry. So I suppose my place isn't the question, because this does not affect me directly. However: I do not understand how showing Nazis as villains is a bad thing. I am not questioning that it hurts people. I've seen that it clearly does. What I question is "Why?" I don't grasp why Nazi=villains is a bad thing.

I’m going to be bluntly honest here. I had to mentally dismiss about ten blithe responses to this that were on the order of that now-infamous tweet “I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.” I know that’s not what you’re saying, but I struggled, when I read this, to grasp how you could say that you see the harm (hurt) it is causing and yet don’t see that it’s wrong.

And how it could be true that you’ve actually read this post, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and some of the other stuff I’ve put in my tag for the crossover, and yet still be confused about this. And one of those posts, mind you, explicitly explains why it’s more than just “they made Nazis the villains of the crossover”.

And part of why I was tempted to answer blithely is because, given all that, I think it’s been explained time and again what the issue is here, and how it goes so far beyond the fact that them making Nazis the villains is the problem. The other part is because to re-explain it, to break it down to its elemental components? That takes time - hours from the time I started thinking about this to the time I’ll be done writing it - and energy - in terms of research and resources. I’m doing a lot of labour for you, emotionally and physically here. And part of me wants to shirk that labour, to put it on you to do it.

But… I can’t. Because I can answer your question, at least from my own perspective, and it is an important one to answer. Because before I understood just how much my own privilege impacted how I see the world and started to actively push back against it and expand my perception, I probably wouldn’t have fully understood either.

So I can’t explain this as eloquently or succinctly as some other people. And I can’t explain this from the perspective of someone who’s directly being harmed by this crossover (because I am also white and a gentile). And I’m sure many people people who are direct targets of Nazis would tell you that “isn’t it enough that it is harming me?” and they would be right, full stop. That would be an acceptable answer.

But I’m going to do my best to give you the understanding I genuinely think you’re looking for, allowing for the fact that others may have more to add or clarify, and allowing for the fact that my answer is inherently limited by my privilege.

I trust that you’ll read to the end, even though it’s long. And if at the end you still can’t understand, or you think I’m exaggerating, then I urge you to think on this, to sleep on it, and to read more and more about it. And even without understanding, to respect the voices of the Jewish (and gay, and Rroma) people who’ve spoken out about these problems time and again when things like this crop up. Amplify those voices, even if you can’t see the long-term ramifications of why this is ‘Bad’ yet.

First, the issue here cannot be reduced to “Nazis are the villains of the crossover.” Because that [.] at the end is actually a […]. It really goes like this: Nazis are the villains of the crossover…

… and the premise is based on the notion that Nazis won and have world domination.

… and that premise implies that Nazis are so powerful that with a bit of ‘bad luck’ in history, Nazis could have won.

… and that premise contributes to the mythic aggrandizing of Nazism that makes so many people Nazi sympathizers or apologists.

… and many heroes doppelgangers are Nazis.

… and Jewish-coded heroes’ doppels are Nazis.

… and a Jewish-coded hero who came to earth at age 12 and was raised on better principles than that still became a Nazi.

… and that notion spits on the original intent of the Jewish creators of these characters.

… and all of this implies that “good and heroic” people can still turn out to be Nazis, undermining the very message heroes should send. (Being a hero only when it’s easy is not being a hero at all. Doing the right thing when it’s against what society enforces is what makes them heroes.)

… and this turns the heroes that people (including Jewish people) look up to for hope and comfort into symbols of hatred and genocide.

… and the Nazis interrupt an interracial marriage between a Black woman and a Jewish-coded hero (who is canonically Jewish in parallel media like the DCEU) for the sake of drama.

… and the Nazi doppelganger outfits are designed to look ~*sexy*~ to an uncritical viewer.

… and the ~*sexy*~ doppel outfits include genuine Nazi symbols from WW2, which are pretty damn triggering to a lot of people. (But yet no sign of a swastika because that would most likely turn those uncritical viewers too far off).

… and they’re ~*sexy*~ enough that people already want to cosplay that Nazi and buy merchandise of that Nazi paraphernalia.

… and the promo photos show that a Jewish woman and a Black woman are going to be targeted specifically, thus capitalizing directly off threats and violence to actual historical victims of the Nazis.

… and the promo photos treat Wellsobard (many people’s fave villain) as an allusion to Dr. Mengele, one of the most infamously disgusting and reprehensible people to ever exist.

… and the promos show us images of a gay character and actor wearing a ‘Pink Triangle’ once again being used as a symbol of hate and shame.

… and there is a good chance that a Jewish character (Martin) is going to get killed off during this crossover.

…and the storyline is likely focused on the love story between a white gentile and a Jewish woman who gets targeted by his evil Nazi doppelganger.

… and the shows already have a history of antisemitism by putting a Jewish woman in a gas chamber (wtf Arrow), killing a Jewish one-off villain with radiation in a compressed chamber (Atom Smasher, wtf The Flash), erasing the Jewish identity of some characters (e.g., Ray Palmer) and failing to mention another’s (Martin’s) in three seasons (c’mon Legends), and no-doubt more.

… and … this list goes on. It really does. This is not exhaustive.

And you might be tempted to think “but if the Nazis are defeated, and shown unequivocally to be the bad guys, then isn’t it okay? Isn’t it historically accurate that the Nazis would target the Jewish and Black and LGBTQ characters and wear Nazi symbols anyway? Many of the main producers are Jewish or gay, they’re not trying to say anything good about Nazis.”

So this is where we have to talk about narrative framing, implicit associations, and sociological implications.

The concept of framing in psychology deals with how we can present the exact same information in different ways and get vastly different responses. How we present information, even paired down to simple basic statistics, massively impacts how people internalize and encode that information and therefore how they respond to it.

In narrative, we know that how we frame a character’s motives and background influence how they’ll be perceived by the audience. So many heroes in action movies kill and murder their way through a scene, but their crimes are justified by the narrative frame, whereas the villain’s won’t be. Or in order to humanize villains and make them sympathetic, the narrative may shift the viewer’s paradigm by re-framing the information: yes this villain is an asshole who hurt your favourite character, but they’re doing it because of [x].

So when we look at the crossover, we have to interrogate how it’s being framed. Are the Nazis villains? Yes? Good, check. … But the Nazis are also doppelgangers of our beloved heroes?… Okay, right off the bat, that’s bad.

That will make some people inherently sympathize with the Nazis doppels and like them. We have an emotional and automatic response to these faces, to these people, that is going to work faster and parallel to how our conscious brain responds to them, and many viewers (those who don’t have an automatic and massively negative knee-jerk response to the premise or the symbolism already built in) will have to be consciously and continuously inhibiting any decision to feel some positive sense toward those characters, and many viewers aren’t going to put in that conscious effort, especially not while the narrative is so distracting.

(For the record, if you consciously create this negative association it’ll become automatic. We aren’t born hating Nazi symbolism, we encode associations to it, and if you continuously encode negative ones, then you’ll hate other things associated with that symbolism too!)

So now in the crossover, by how our brain creates associations, if we have a positive association with that hero, there is an association now between that hero and their doppelganger, and that doppel and Nazi symbolism. That creates a link between positive feelings and Nazi symbolism. Say what? Look, our brains are simple in their associations and categorizations. There’s ways around this, but if we leave these associations unchecked, this can happen. Especially for viewers who won’t recognize and understand the symbolism like the ‘SS’ on Overgirl’s chest (i.e., younger viewers who are most impressionable and who the education system has seriously failed, and privileged viewers who weren’t taught to have strong negative associations to these less well known Nazi symbols).

And we already know this is happening. This is literally why we have articles on popular press outlets saying they want to buy merch of Overgirl (Supergirl’s Nazi doppel)’s outfit, which is literally emblazoned across the chest with Nazi symbols. People are saying they want to buy actual Nazi merch and the crossover hasn’t even aired yet. Just… let that sink in for a sec?

So.

That’s one reason why making heroes as Nazis is bad, and why making Nazis sexy is bad. Because of the automatic associations our brains make with those beloved characters, and even with attraction. If we find something attractive or beautiful, we tend to have automatic associations with that as ‘good’. Beautiful = moral is one of the stronger associations we have and it’s reinforced by media time and again. (Conversely to ugly = evil, or evil = queer. And female villains are often designed for sex appeal but it’s misogynistic anyway because it deals with a lot of bullshit about feminine purity and evil seductresses, and still conflates these associations our brains are going to make).

And look, it’s 2017. We have Richard Spencer the literal Neo Nazi on TV and articles about how this ‘alt-right’ leader is sexy and cool. We don’t need DCTV to jump on the bandwagon of making Nazis seem “cool”. Human beings experience approach motivations toward things we find attractive. The only option is to experience disgust and anger in response to people like Spencer and characters like Overgirl, or else we may fall prey to the implicit associations put forth by the media itself.

And that’s the problem: the media (the DCTV shows) are putting these associations there and forcing the viewers to work against them if we want to watch this and not come out of it as worse people for it. It’s designed to be entertaining and thrilling and they spent millions of dollars making it that way, and so much of that budget went to making the villains what they are.

So it’s not enough for them to say that Nazis are the villains or even to show them getting their asses kicked if they set the Nazis up to start as all-powerful world dominators. It’s not enough to have these characters say “I hate Nazis” when they show their doppels as Nazis and capable of those atrocities.

And if you’re starting to think “there’s an important message here. About how Nazis can look classically attractive but we shouldn’t be taken in by that, and about nature versus nurture and how we need to actively push back against evil within ourselves or else, in another dimension or if things had gone different, even we could be evil.”

That’s… tempting to argue. It’s an important message, to be sure. But given the stylized outfits and triggering imagery and the way they’ve set up the narrative, I don’t anticipate that’s the message we’re getting here. I mean, I think it’ll come up, most definitely, but I don’t think it’s what the viewer is ultimately going to take away from this. Not in the “I need to look within myself and push back against my own biases” sort of way. That’s not the way they’ve framed this.

And for a comparison point, if you want a narrative that says “White supremacists are all evil, don’t get taken in by one who seems ~reasonable~ and looks normal, and see what these modes of thought actually look like” then watch the movie Imperium (2016) and see how they handle it. (And then compare that to American History X, which apparently some Neo Nazis like, even though it’s inherently anti-Nazi, because it paints them as being powerful and is full of the visual symbolism they uphold).

Because the way they’re currently framing the CW crossover, it’s really just about amping up the drama? And they’ve capitalizing on intergenerational trauma of the Jewish community and the collective trauma of the Holocaust to the gay community. And I’ve said elsewhere that I have no doubt the intent was good, but good intentions aren’t enough.

If the producers don’t understand the damage they can cause by making ~*sexy*~ Nazis literally capable of world-domination (they’re not, they never were, they were superstitious and put genocide and hate over actual scientific advancements and their disgusting experiments on humans didn’t teach us near as much as people pretend they did), and re-writing heroes as Nazis (which, if anyone recalls, created a huge outcry when Marvel wrote Captain America as a Nazi) then regardless of their intent, they need to rethink their storytelling. Or if they really think that the right way to make a statement about the rise of Neo Nazism in the wake of the Trump election is to put the ‘SS’ symbol on Supergirl’s chest and make Eobard into Dr. Mengele, to recycle imagery of actual Nazis from WW2 and put a pink triangle on a gay man’s chest in 2017…. they don’t get it. Whatever their intent and regardless of where they’re coming from, they don’t fucking get it.

Sorry, I’m getting worked up. My point is that if they wanted to make a statement about things today, there were a million better ways to do it, and I could list at least 5 off the top of my head right now. But those would be more controversial, harder to pitch and sell, and not as stylized or easy to promote. So stylish Nazis is what we got. And that’s just… such a problem, including literally the ‘stylish’ part of that sentence.

Nazism and white supremacy are inherently performative. Nazis were all about the #aesthetic. They aligned themselves with famous designers for their uniforms. They had the villainous dramatic flair, and they used it to their advantage. Having that in the crossover might be historically accurate, but it falls right into what the Nazis themselves do: make themselves look good to amp up this notion that they are good.

And a problem with depicting them this way (instead of making them pathetic, vacuous, hate-filled to the point of self-defeat, self-important to the point of being ultimately silly and sad, punching down their notions of grandeur) is that actual Nazis like it. They like being portrayed as sexy, powerful, and cool. And depictions like that help them with their recruiting. “Look, isn’t Overgirl sexy? She’s like our mascot. They know that when we take back this country from foreigner invaders, this is how it’s gonna look.” Because they say when, not if, and they recruit by framing themselves as the victim in a struggle against invaders and usurpers. Make no mistake, white supremacy is a victim complex of untold proportions and having attractive, fan-favorited characters championing their cause helps spread their message.

But let’s get back to the crossover’s broader sociological message and stop talking about actual modern-day Nazis for a sec.

Nazis have been the villains in DCTV before. On Legends in 1942, and with Damien Darhk (again, actual literal Nazi, and again, the narrative has made him “entertaining” in the eyes of some viewers and keeps bringing him back over and over as a villain?). Nazis have also been the villain in pop culture for half a century. Indiana Jones. Star Wars comes to mind in particular. They’re not shy about the fact that their villains are explicitly based on Nazis and the Nazi regime. Which is working out so well considering how many people are mooning over Kylo Ren when he’s a genocidal fascist who murdered his own father (”but it’s okay because he’s just misunderstood, and by that I mean I find the actor attractive and I, too, have anger and angst so I identify with him, this Nazi”). At least in Star Wars it’s figurative, I guess?

And the thing about these narratives, the problem with these narratives, is that they fictionalize Nazis. This isn’t necessarily a reason to vehemently boycott these media or rail against them, but just, as a general phenomenon that’s happened over time, many people - and by this I mostly mean privileged people and people who don’t feel particularly targeted by Nazism - tend to think of Nazis as this cinematic enemy. This prop, this simple narrative device. This way of commenting on the past more than the present, or alluding to something about the present as a mere metaphor, and that metaphor tends to go over the heads of half the viewers anyway because most people aren’t taught to critically evaluate media except in high school english classes that no one takes seriously.

And fictionalized Nazis don’t look like real Nazis in the 21st century. So when real Nazis do gather, many people don’t realize just how bad that is, just how violent their coming together is going to be, and just why need to fight back against such demonstrations and against letting Nazis have any space or voice in our society. It’s like that “this is fine” dog cartoon where he doesn’t see an issue until the house burns around him? Making Nazis into a fictional narrative device can make it harder for many people to actually see the flames burning around them, because they’ve been taught that “real” fires look different than the ones already starting to burn their house down.

Finally, I’ll just come back to point number 1: this is hurting people. In a way that going to 1942 and letting Mick Rory roast Nazis didn’t. And as privileged individuals, we have a responsibility to call out and call attention to the issues in this media and to amplify others’ voices. But as human beings more generally? We also owe a duty of compassion to others.

Sure, there are a lot of people who aren’t hurt by this, but there are a lot who are. Who are shaking and sick to their stomachs and afraid for what’s happening in 2017 and how the tides of the world are turning. Who worry that this crossover is just another example of how casual people are about Nazism and who worry about everything I’ve listed here in detail as the broader effects of media like this and its current framing, even if they don’t have the language to articulate it all in one place like this. People who feel these effects, and feel the target on their back.

We owe those people some compassion, yeah? So when they say it hurts, we don’t need to say: why? That can come later. Our first question should instead be: how can I help?

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eucliffesting · 7 years

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anti gr*via

I’ve been meaning to get this off of my chest for a while:

Gr*via doesn’t rlly have much chemistry. like yeah I know they have their big emotional shippy moments and overtime Gray did accept her into his life and that they’re ‘canon’ now but that’s only because she kinda forced herself into his life?? her stalking him and him rejecting her romantic/sexual advances has been a running gag throughout the majority of the series, and I don’t think that should be counted as ship moments or “Gray is just being tsundere!!1!1” because it made Gray uncomfortable most of the time?? the only reason they live together is because she forced herself into his house and refused to leave. she even tried to sleep with him, which he rejected. she fucking knows Gray isn’t interested in her so she acquired a love potion to make him like her (which backfired) but seriously no means no?? does she not understand that?? also that scene where she takes a shower and her whole room is covered in Gray merch and she uses a sponge with his face on to wash her boobs and vagina…. that’s so creepy and gross. if it was a man doing it with a woman people would not be okay with it. I like Juvia but Gr*via just kinda,, ruins her character. like Lucy was the first friend she made and the first girl to accept her, yet she was willing to hurt Lucy because she was a ‘love rival’ in terms of gray even though Juvia and Gray weren’t even dating and she doesn’t fucking own him??? that seems unrealistic seeing as Juvia’s been alone all her life and had depression, surely she’d want to keep her friends close rather than make enemies of them? there are certain moments where her “love for Gray” makes her stronger in fights, but then again it’s also very inconvenient to have an s class mage who will only take a fight seriously if her crush is involved.

also I feel like when it comes to Gr*via, the shippers mainly focus on Juvia and her feelings more than Gray’s. for example, whenever Gray doesn’t return her feelings everyones like “Gray omg stop being an asshole you need to give Juvia an answer!!!”. even Erza said this to him, which disappointed me since she’s my favourite and she knows Gray really well. why would she put pressure on him like that? Gray doesn’t owe her ANYTHING. not a single thing. whenever she got hurt or chose to sacrifice herself, that’s all on her. gray never asked her to do that or forced her to do that. stop making gray apologise for things he shouldn’t have to. just because she likes him he isn’t obligated to automatically return those feelings??? if it was a girl rejecting a boy several times people would be defending her, but because it’s the other way round it’s okay and counts as valid shipping moments?? I 100% understand him caring for her as a fellow guild mate, but it kinda feels like gray only likes her romantically because he feels guilty for the stuff they’ve been through (like when he points out her scar. and the “I’ll take your feelings more seriously from now on” he only felt obligated to do that bc he felt guilty for her ‘death’). I’d prefer Gr*via to be platonic tbh. if Juvia just had a casual crush on Gray where she never stalked him or acted possessive then I would probably quite like the ship too

personality wise, I honestly think there’s not much chemistry there. tbh gray had better romantic chemistry with Lucy, Erza and even Natsu and Lyon. like with Lucy they’re basically salt buddies and have sarcastic banter with each other on missions, they naturally get along well and he cares about her a lot. with Erza, they both have a mutual respect for each other and admire each other’s strength and greatly trust each other, and they have history together from when Erza first joined the guild and Gray kinda had a crush on her. he even said she was pretty during the galuna island arc and was flustered when she asked about it. he even has better chemistry with Natsu than with Juvia. like yeah they argue and fight a lot but that’s based from a mutual respect of each other’s strength, which is why they consider the other person to be a worthy rival. and past all that, they are good friends!!!! they’ve been there for each other multiple times (e.g. Natsu stopping Gray from using iced shell) and do have fun together and hang out and they have a mutual trust in each other!!! with Lyon, they both learned magic from the same master and recognised each other’s strengths, which therefore led to them being rivals. however they do have great chemistry and fight extremely well together. they’re able to strategise and work in sync when it’s required. in missions and during arcs we do get Gr*via moments where gray saves her and stuff but their daily casual interactions are kinda bland and their personalities don’t mix as well as they do with other characters. they don’t have inside jokes or common interests or a budding rivalry or a mature understanding of each other. Juvia has better natural chemistry with Lucy and Cana than with Gray tbh. people love to say that the gruvia union raids proves that they’re ‘soulmates’ and have a ‘deep connection’. but y'all are forgetting, who did Juvia perform a union raid with first??? Lucy Heartfilia!!! this was when they hardly knew each other yet they were able to use high level magic like that which requires a strong bond. if that doesn’t scream soulmates and deep connections then idk what does.

also gray would risk his life for ANY of his guild mates, yet it conveniently has to be juvia most of the time. mashima kept ship pandering for popularity so like 90% of Juvia’s character revolves around Gray (which is unfair to both him and her) and he just HAD to associate juvia within all of Gray’s close relationships. for example, Gray mourning his father’s death is a major gruvia moment, and the Gray/Juvia/Lyon love triangle became a thing, and Juvia just had to pick up his stripping habit that he got from ur. it actually really bothers me that she picked up this habit because it’s Gray and Lyon’s thing from their master, it’s been their thing since they were kids. Juvia also having it just makes it lose its meaning.

also the ending feels kinda ooc because Gray has rejected her romantic advances the entire time yet all of a sudden he’s blushing over Juvia and says that she’s his? not even a “yeah I like you back”, he just says that she is his, which sounds kinda possessive and non gray-like. also why are Gr*via fans ignoring the fact that Gray went on a 100 year quest the next day without Juvia, who he is apparently dating now lmao relationship goals right there.

another thing I hate is that I’ve seen lots of people say that “Gr*via taught me to never give up when it comes to love!!” uhhhhh fuck no miss me with that bullshit. if someone’s not into you and rejects you time after time LEAVE THEM ALONE. it’s not cute or romantic to stalk and obsess over someone who’s not interested!!! if the roles were reversed and Juvia was a guy and Gray was a girl, more people would have an issue with it. yes I understand that currently the ship isn’t as bad as it was but the foundation of their relationship is terrible lol.

it would’ve made more sense for Juvia to get over her obsession with Gray and move on. notice how most of the time she fantasies about Gray, he’s usually ooc? that’s because she’s in love with the IDEA of him and his appearance, and doesn’t take the time to actually get to know him as a person. Sherry and Lyon are good examples of what Juvia should’ve done. Sherry had a huge crush on Lyon. she realised Lyon wasn’t interested. what did she do? she respected his feelings, moved on and now she has a hot husband who genuinely loves her. Lyon was in love with Juvia. he realised she was in love with Gray instead. what did he do? he respected her feelings and stopped pursuing her. tbh I prefer Lyvia since Lyon was actually interested in her yet didn’t stalk or harass her like she did to Gray. also I love Lyon and I felt rlly bad for him.

I’m not trying to say that all Gr*via shippers are shitty people, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions. I used to really like Gr*via at one point until I realised I just liked it because everyone else did. I just don’t think it should’ve been canon it’s just not a great relationship.

#juvia lockser #gray fullbuster #anti gruvia

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